'Breaking Bad' Discussion: Classic Coke

Oh boy. Well I am now 100% committed to wearing the t-shirt above during the Breaking Bad half-season finale next week. Mike Ehrmantraut will always be the king of the Ehrmantrauts in my book.

So let’s get right to it, shall we? Here are a few notes I made during last night’s Breaking Bad about characters, scenes, etc. I found interesting for one reason or another.

– “Say my name.”

“You’re Heisenberg.”

“You’re goddamn right.”

That opening scene had me howling. HOWLING. I almost stood up off of my sofa to applaud. It was that good.

– One thing that did strike me about that opening scene is that Walt wasn’t wearing his Heisenberg hat during what was clearly a Heisenberg moment. Is this because he’s now so fully immersed in the Heisenberg character that he no longer needs a wardrobe prop, so to speak, to get into that character? Has Walt gone full Heisenberg on us? Yes, I think he has, though killing someone is obviously something that still doesn’t come naturally to him.

– Well, what a lot of commenters in past discussion threads predicted would happen has happened: Todd is the new Jesse. On top of that, he takes the job much more seriously than Jesse ever did. This obviously pleases Walt. What I’m not sure he realizes, however, is that Todd is probably cold-blooded enough to kill him and take over his empire after he learns to cook his meth.

– The scene where Walt was in Hank’s office to retrieve the wire equipment made my heart rate go up. I had convinced myself that Hank would walk in on him doing it. Of course, not only did Walt pull it off, but he also overheard Gomie telling Hank about getting Mike’s spineless lawyer to flip.

– Mike should have called Saul, obviously.

– The hilarious interactions between Jesse and Skyler may be my favorite thing on the show right now. With that said, I think this has the makings of an unlikely partnership: Jesse and Skyler teaming to bring down Walter White. It’s just a gut hunch. But I can totally see it happening.

– One of the reasons I can see Jesse conspiring with Skyler is because of the independent streak he’s begun to show. Old Jesse would have allowed Walt to mind-f*ck him back into cooking meth last night. New Jesse wants out and he’s not going to cave to Walt’s manipulations.

The only thing I think that could make him any lower is if she knew that he had actually put a child in harm’s way, and I don’t even know what that would do to her. There’s no lower that he could go, but if she found that out, then that might turn her to … I wonder sometimes if she’s getting to a point where she’s getting past the terror of him and she’s going to get into a position of, I have to make sure that he doesn’t do these things anymore. I’m not trying to foreshadow anything that’s coming, because I really don’t know if that’s coming or not, but I wonder if that’s something in her mind.

– And speaking of LOL Walter White, this GIF pleases me…

– I’m on the record as not being a big fan of Gomie but I kind of loved seeing him standing at the entrance to that safe deposit vault with a big smile on his face.

In an ordinary drama, this would be true: causing a child’s death is still the rare TV taboo, at least for those characters whose cause we are meant to be invested in. But “Breaking Bad” has always put children in danger, to the point that it’s practically the show’s trademark. Walt’s rationalization is that he is protecting his family, but his most memorable targets are other people’s children: first, Jesse’s junkie girlfriend, whose air-traffic-controller father ended up crashing a plane in his grief over her death from an overdose, and then, last season, Brock, the son of another of Jesse’s girlfriends. A video-game-loving five-year-old, Brock was the definition of collateral damage. Walt poisoned him so that he could frame his old boss for it, thus luring Jesse back as his partner, since he knew that Jesse would be horrified by anyone who would harm a child. When Brock was near death in the I.C.U., I spent hours arguing with friends about who was responsible. To my surprise, some of the most hard-core cynics thought it inconceivable that it could be Walt—that might make the show impossible to take, they said. But, of course, it did nothing of the sort. Once the truth came out, and Brock recovered, I read posts insisting that Walt was so discerning, so careful with the dosage, that Brock could never have died. The audience has been trained by cable television to react this way: to hate the nagging wives, the dumb civilians, who might sour the fun of masculine adventure. “Breaking Bad” increases that cognitive dissonance, turning some viewers into not merely fans but enablers.

– Completely unrelated to last night’s episode, this is pretty great…

– Anyone have any idea why Mike would not allow Jesse, who he likes and trusts, to retrieve his lifeline bag for him but would allow Walt, who he trusts like a snake trusts a mongoose, to fetch it for him?

– “Shut the f*ck up. Let me die in peace.” — Mike.

– Naturally, Walt didn’t need to ever kill Mike. What a dick.

– Oh man I can’t wait for next week. Love you, Vince Gilligan.

Your own thoughts and observations are of course welcome in the comments.

I’m not gonna read through all the comments so if someone posted this already, oh well I guess. Todd said that he has connections in prison. Anyone else think Walt will use those connections to take out the 9 names Mike was paying to keep quiet?

I’m just wondering how the hell Walt let Todd take notes…does he not remember anything about Gale’s books being discovered by the DEA, or is he just that overconfident now that he believes that won’t ever happen again?

And someone should get on getting a picture of Jonathan Banks wearing that shirt, eh?

I love BB like everyone else, but I thought that opening scene was just ridiculous. “Say my name?” Come on, this rival drug distributor has threatened your life and has you outnumbered 2-to-1, and then he’s just going to roll over and say your name? All because Walt and Mike claim that Heisenberg Gus Fring? So the rival guy goes immediately from threatening Walt to pussing out and saying his name? Just seemed over-the-top to me. I didn’t buy the guy’s reaction.

Mike not only trusts Jesse, but cares for him too. He wants Jesse to get out of the business, and if he is ever going to do it he will have look out for himself. While him and Walt have clashed plenty of times, it was Walt however who warned him that the DEA were coming after him. From our outside perspective it seemed out of place, but for Mike it is just the kind of in the moment decision that he would make.

Funny how child murder is taboo on Breaking Bad, when everyone is rooting for Joffrey’s death on Game of Thrones.

Think about this, if someone had killed Hitler when he was a child, they would’ve gotten in trouble for it, rather than being celebrated as one of history’s greatest heroes.

The Mongols almost killed Genghis when he was a baby. That would’ve saved the world some trouble. But whatever. I suppose everyone should at least be given the opportunity to grow up to become a psychopathic warlord.

I think there may be more to the “The Big Heat” and Hank’s suicide motion as he left Walt in the office. Norris said there’s a “chilling” scene involving Holly. As far as we know Holly is at the Schrader’s house still. What if Skyler told Marie his secret, and what if Walt kills Marie in front of Holly so Hank doesn’t find out. Hank coming home to a murdered wife would devastate him (much has been made about Hank and Marie’s relationship, especially when Walt does his fake sob stories). Combine that with Walt escaping after Hank realizes he’s Heisenberg, and a disgraced cop with a murdered wife has nothing to live for.

Also, next week’s episode is titled “Gliding Over All,” a reference to the Walt Whitman poem. Here’s the transcript:

“Gliding o’er all, through all,
Through Nature, Time, and Space,
As a ship on the waters advancing,
The voyage of the soul–not life alone,
Death, many deaths I’ll sing.”

So yeah, many deaths methinks. (the nine guys + the big death (shot Marie or strangled Skyler).

The only thing certain when you’re dealing in criminal activities is that dead men tell no tales. So I was wondering from the start why Walt didn’t kill Mike outright to cover his tracks. Now next episode Walt has to figure out how to deal with Mike’s guys, Lydia, and Jesse. At this point there is no turning back for him if he is to survive. You can’t make it in the game by being a half crook. So I’m betting Walt is going to start showing more of a sadistic streak.

Seemed exactly like something Gilligan would have done, and seeing the gun that almost killed him would have helped explain Walt’s sudden desire to kill for no particular reason.Based on these scenes, you see that he isn’t a really decent character or person; He disobeys Mikes no talking rule, he shoots the kid after committing a serious heist and when your hear him speak he (from what I remember) only really seemed to be doing small talk with jesse (which made him seem like an even bigger douche) or is talking about his Uncle in prison.I am beautiful woman and I love good man…..inter racial romance is my dream… so I joined —blackwhitеPlanet.С0M—–it’s where to- connect with beautiful and excellent people!On the last trip we see the lawyer make, he wouldn’t have needed her drawer opened as he was only putting the hush money away. Obviously that was confiscated, but the DEA might not even be aware of Kaylee’s money/box.

I don’t think anyone mentioned this yet but does anyone think that maybe Mike wanted to die? The look on his face when he had to leave his Granddaughter at the park seemed like something inside of him was destroyed. His “good” side was ruined. His granddaughter was the one good part of his life. So by allowing Walt to deliver his go bag would set up Walt killing him instead of him taking his own life.

I’ve seen posts on other discussions that Mike essentially set up his death on purpose. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I do think Mike knew the end was near, and clearly wasn’t super opposed to that.

Thank you. I’ve heard so much “why didn’t Jesse bring the bag?” comments today I have gotten sick of saying Mike was trying to keep Jesse out of it in case things went bad. He wouldn’t care if Walt ended up going down with him.

Am I reading too much into the fact that Walt is wearing earth tones when he meets Mike? It was mentioned a couple weeks ago that his wardrobe has shifted from browns/greens to blacks/blues as he has become more eviler. It kinda made Walt’s apologetic-sounding lines at the end ring truer.

the bank manager couldn’t remember all of the box numbers first time lawyer made a drop plus he added an additional box for Kaylee (603). i don’t think she will be able to remember that one under pressure and maybe several others. the ones she does remember may be the ones targeted by walt/todd and rest keep getting paid.

Anyone else notice Marie was in yellow in the picture of her and Hank that Walt bugged? The photo was pretty prominently featured in the low angle shot when Walt put it back down. Wondering if this means anything at all or if she just used to be a yellow kinda gal before jumping on the purple wagon. Boobs.

I have a feeling that Todd is going to hand over the blue crystal recipe to either his uncle in prison or the other meth dealers. You don’t see or hear much from Todd throughout the season but whenever you do its usually during a scene where something serious is either being discussed or happens. Based on these scenes, you see that he isn’t a really decent character or person; He disobeys Mikes no talking rule, he shoots the kid after committing a serious heist and when your hear him speak he (from what I remember) only really seemed to be doing small talk with jesse (which made him seem like an even bigger douche) or is talking about his Uncle in prison. Which brings me too my point. Around the end of the teacher/student cooking scene, you see Todd taking notes and talking about how he doesn’t want to get paid until he gets it right and you see Walt (who is in original/default Walter White teacher mode at the moment) seem to embrace him. I don’t remember Walt saying anything nice about Todd throughout the course of the season and I have a feeling that Todd is clever enough (or at least opportunistic enough) to take advantage of Walt lowering his guard. And with the way the Heisenberg Meth Empire/White Family seems to be going, it doesn’t seem too hard to imagine that someone like the Todd (even if he is a child murdering derp) being the one to send it all too rock bottom.

Also Todd selling the recipe to other meth dealers would cause a drop in the street value of the blue crystal and would make it a standard form of meth amongst dealers/users. This would kick the chair out from Walt (who already has a noose on around his neck) who has spent his entire career as Heisenberg making it a point to say that he is the only person who is able to create the product, ending with him getting a massive target on his back from all of the people he has pissed off along the way.

The river reminded me of the spot in the second season (?) where the cold open shows two illegal immigrants cross the river and find Tuco’s grill, which we realize Hank through in to the river later on in the episode. It looked very similar to me.

Jesse’s only really power play would be for him and Skylar to turn Walt in… But I could almost see Skylar after being asked to do that kill Jesse in Walt and her’s Kitchen cause as distant as she is, she still wants the money.

I have little to add. I loved that for the attempt to capture him they revisited the playground.

I figured not wanting Pinkman involved was Mike’s way of trying to insulate him. Also, I couldn’t help but think of earlier when Jessie said, “I guess I’ll see you around” and he said “No, you won’t”. Not that Walt is a better choice, but at least Walt is dirty if they get scooped up.

I also can’t help but think that Mike’s planning should have extended to a way to take down Walt. I could picture something he did earlier being a domino that causes Walt to fall, like reaching out from the grave.

There was a line where Vince (Sham Wow guy) said something like “it cleans up big messes” when talking about the Schticky. I thought that was a little bit of foreshadowing and a not so subtle nod to what is currently going on in the series. Walt and Jesse constantly have to clean up their messes, and they only get worse.

If you ask me, there’s a chance that her safety deposit box is OK… if we recall, her box is completely full. On the last trip we see the lawyer make, he wouldn’t have needed her drawer opened as he was only putting the hush money away. Obviously that was confiscated, but the DEA might not even be aware of Kaylee’s money/box. If her money’s safe, it would make Mike’s abandonment and death worthwhile and meaningful.

I understand the reasons for killing off Mike, (the writers, obviously, not Walt) but damn if I’m not going to look forward to the show a little less now. Mike was hands down my favorite character and it’s just not going to be the same without him.

My boss who made an unusually astute observation for a guy who was saying earlier in the season that “he just wanted everything to work out for Walt and have a happy ending.” Now that Walt is balls out evil, is his character going to be less interesting than it was back when he was still struggling with fleeting morality? I think killing Mike was the point of no return for any kind of possible redemption.

Mike’s 9 guys are locked up.as good as walt has shown himself to be during the course of this show there is no way he could off 9 guys behind bars. having said that, RIP Mike and damn you Vince Gilligan, you just killed my favorite part of the show. WORLD’S BEST GRANDPA

Yeah, the death of Mike was definitely sad and an ill-conceived, rash move by Walt. On the other hand, by not giving the names to Walt, Mike was essentially ensuring that Walt and Jesse would get taken down by one of the guys snitching once the hazard pay stopped without really having a chance to stop the guys from flipping (either with more legacy pay or trying to take them out). Mike was following his advice to Jesse from earlier in the episode to look out for himself, only he wasn’t just walking away to hide in the wind from the DEA, he was picking the nine guys over Walt and Jesse rather than giving them any sort of fighting chance. Which strikes me as kind of dick move and somewhat justifies Walt shooting him.

Ehhh, fair point. I guess I just felt like killing Mike was the point of no return because it served no actual purpose in the grand scheme of things, and also because the death of Mike made me totes sad.

I would say the point of no return was probably poisoning Brock. I think Walt pretty much lost whatever morality he had left underneath the floorboards of the house when he became hysterical after Skylar told him she gave $600+ Gs to Beneke, and from there on out everything has been driven by the Heisenberg side of Walt.

“Anyone have any idea why Mike would not allow Jesse, who he likes and trusts, to retrieve his lifeline bag for him but would allow Walt, who he trusts like a snake trusts a mongoose, to fetch it for him?”
Mike likes Jesse. He doesn’t want him to get caught and eff his life up entirely forever. He didn’t care if Walt got caught.